Happy New Year
Blian Núa Shona Dhuit – Happy New Year to you and those you love. My global wish (hey, why not be ambitious?) is that we all learn to prioritise the truly important things in life and concentrate less on the superficial and commercial.
I had a lovely break over the Christmas, didn’t even check my email for nine days straight!!!
I hope that you all, my two lovely readers 😉 had a beautiful Christmas, as I did, spent some time with loved ones in my family, had lots of great food, some great walks, some great sitting and watching classic b+w films and some great chats.
As for New Year’s Eve – I have to admit that I have never been really interested in all the fuss that accompanies it, even in my younger and wilder partying days I was never into the N.Y.Eve parties, the resolutions that everyone assumed would not last past February, singing and hugging complete strangers etc. Somehow it all seemed a little exaggerated, superficial and unreal.
When I was younger I was not quite sure why I felt like this, it’s not as though I didn’t enjoy partying as much as the next young wild one and I wouldn’t have known a grounded, living-in-the-moment person if I bumped into one, which wasn’t likely actually in the places I hung out! It makes more sense now that my life has changed quite a bit and I have stopped floating through life in a smoky and busy haze, taken the time to challenge some of what I was running away from, dealt with some of the baggage that I was dragging around.
The concept of living in the moment was a difficult one for me to grasp, obviously I knew what it meant intellectually but it was a while before my heart caught up. No surprise there, my head was nearly always in the way. I still struggle with that but now when I speak of getting out of my head it’s a very different out of my head experience than that of the eighties! Now it’s about taking the time to listen to my heart, taking time out of the rush and hustle of life to slow down and really listen to what it is that I need, what it is that I feel.
For me this is not as easy as it sounds, I really have to remind myself to do it and sometimes I have hearing problems – it can take quite some time before I can clearly hear myself. I suppose that this is sustainable living for me – in order to live a real and healthy life and to have healthy relationships I need to do this, I need to take time out to listen to what is really going on for me.
For me the Winter Solstice was a special time, a time for reflection, to acknowledge the year gone past and a new beginning, the days becoming longer, the sun coming back to us, growth starting slowly under the protection of the soil, promise and optimism.
I hope that this new year brings with it many wondrous and joyful experiences for us all…
Hello just came across your blog and had a lovely wander,I really liked it and will be back,thank you Angie.
Hi,
Delighted to meet you. Thanks so much for your kind comments. Much appreciated. I am enjoying your blog and will be going back for more. I agree with your instincts. I have been downsizing since finding this little piece of lovely Leitrim. I have a way to go but I am looking forward to the journey!…best wishes Pam and Paul, Ballinamore
Happy New Year Scribhneoir, I totally agree with you on the NY’s eve partying stuff – never been much for that. Not much for the big Xmas stuff either. When my adult sons were little we did all the big Christmas stuff but being divorced, remarried, children grown-married-gone I no longer have to give much thought to all that – much less stress this way. We did go to Florida to visit my husband’s parents and had a lovely visit and I did give my husband my permission 🙂 to buy himself a digital camera for Christmas from our four 4-legged children and me :-D. Enough stuff for one year.
Lindy in Arizona, USA
I wish you well on your continuing journey in this new year. And may we all revel more in the Experiences of our lives!
The days are lengthening now! It’s not quite as dark when I get out of work for the day – whoo whee!
Hi Suzan and Lindy, I hope that many blessings and gifts come to you and your loved ones this year and Yea! It is great to see the days getting longer again!
Pam and Paul – thanks for dropping by, maybe we will bump into each other one day in lovely Leitrim.
Angie – thanks so much for the kind words and welcome back any time!
and now the days are getting darker again!
Isn’t life amazing! According to Jen’s ‘rules’ I shouldn’t be reading this as you are not near me on the list but I didn’t realise the rules! I’m in need of learning to live in the moment AND listen to my head but I need to sort out what’s in my head. I need to separate the ‘for me’ bits from the ‘what i think I need to do bits’! Reading this great post has helped! Off to read those I should have done now!!
I disobeyed jen’s rules too and found you. I really like the sentiment. I’m making a big effort to live in the moment too…it takes a lot of mental discipline! It’s so easy to get caught up in future plans and past events. Cool post! XXX
Thanks for breaking the rules Jean 🙂
And thanks for the support, it is hard to live in the moment and not get distracted, I guess we have to keep practising….